Needle packet



Nov. 20, 1956 c. HAILE NEEDLE PACKET Original Filed :June 15, 1951United States Patent O NEEDLE PACKET Clement Haile, North Hollywood,Calif., assignor to Free Sewing Machine Co., Beverly Hills, Calif., acorporation of Illinois Continuation of application Serial No. 231,743,.lune 15, 1951. This application May 9, 1955, Serial No. 506,810

2 Claims. (Cl. 206-66) This application is a continuation of myapplication, Serial No. 231,743, led lune 15, 1951.

This invention relates to a new and improved needle packet for the moreconvenient selling, handling and safe keeping of sewing machine needlesand the like.

Sewing machine needles have heretofore been packaged loosely in sizeablenumbers per package using stili paper wrappers, and that has beenunsatisfactory for a number of reasons, among which may be mentioned thehigh labor cost of such packaging, the unh-andiness and awkardnessinsofar as the handling of the package and the removal and replacementof needles are concerned, and the little or no protection againstrusting `alforded by such packages. There is, therefore, a real demandfor a package designed to overcome Ithese objections, one alfording suchsecure packing of needles in small inexpensive packets that will enablesewing machine manufacturers to supply to their dealers and othersreadypacket sets of two or more needles of a given size to fit a givenmachine so that each sale of needles can be made quickly and easily andwith certainty that the customer will get what he or she has asked forand so that the customer, buying say two packets of two different sizesof needles for use on a given machine, will have packets properlyidentifying those needles so that thereafter a needle may be removed foruse and replaced with certainty in the proper packet. Due to presentineicient methods of merchandising needles, users experience difficultyin -nding local sources of supply, and, frequently, when such sourcesare found, ind it dicult to obtain the exact types and sizes of needlesrequired. Often the user, or an obliging dealer, must ultimately writethe manufacturer to identify and order the correct type of needle to titla specific make and model of machine. Under such circumstances there isno proiit for either the dealer or manufacturer in handling thisnecessary item. It is, therefore, the principal object of my inventionto provide a needle packet of simple and economical constructiondesigned to overcome the objections mentioned and at the same time meetall of the other requirements.

The needle packet of my invention comprises a light cardboard folder orcover, comparable to what is used as the cover of a match book, designedlto be opened and closed in the same manner, the cover having anenvelope to receive the needles secured in place .therein by a staplethat passes through and clinches together the folded lower end of thecover with the closed end of the envelope disposed within said fold. Theenvelope, which is open at its upper end to receive the needles pointedend down, preferably has Ia foldable ilap serving as a closure and thisap is held closed securely when .the cover flap is closed and tucked inunder the stapled end in the wellknown way. For an even more secureclosing of the flap on the envelope, the envelope may be arranged sothat itsA ap folds inwardly toward the back of the cover, in theopposite direction from the folding of the cover flap. Also, althoughthe needles seem to be held safely enough ICC because they take holdwell enough at their pointed ends when inserted in the envelope, due tothe pressure against the opposite sides of the lower end of the envelopeexerted by the folded end of the cover as a result of the way in whichit is stapled clamping the lower end of the envelope, I may close theupper end of the envelope a short distance inwardly from each side sothat the butts of the needles cannot slip out past either end of theflap. However, when the envelope is made that way, the ilap may actuallybe dispensed with.

When the envelope is made of thermoplastic sheet material, such asvinyllilm, the closing of one end partially from opposite sides iseasily attended to by heat-sealing the edge portions of the plastic`sheet material, as will soon appear, and no added expense is involved.This construction, besides being economical to manufacture and producingan envelope that is extremely durable, gives the following fourimportant additional advantages:

(l) It affords a solid wall of plastic material of double thicknessalong the bottom and both sides of the envelope, this wall at the bottomserving as a pin cushion of ample depth into which the sharp ends of theneedles can be stuck without damage to the needles or the envelope;

(2) The bonding-together of the marginal edge portions of the front andback walls of the envelope makes these walls have tighter engagementthan would be possible if the front and back walls were in one piece anddefined by a fold Iat the bottom of the envelope, and the bonded edgeportion keeps them that way throughout the life of the envelope, so thatthe needles are tightly hugged from opposite sides by contact with thefront and back walls and are, therefore, not apt to move about and havetheir pointed ends damaged;

(3) The snug engagement of the front and back walls ofthe envelope,resulting from the method of bonding thev marginal edge portions,insures alignment of the pointed end portions of the needles with thedouble-thickness wall at the bottom of the envelope thatserves as thepin cushion, s o that .the sharp ends of the needles are not apt topuncture the front and back wall but will be certain to be embedded inthe double-thickness end Wall, thereby protecting the pointed ends ofthe needles and Iat the same ltime avoiding likelihood of damage to theenvelope, and

(4) The bonded edge portions, besides giving strength to the envelopeitself, increase the strength and durability of the Whole assembly,`because the staple that passes through the folded portion of thecardboard cover and through the lower end of the envelope is not apt tobe torn out if the envelope is given rough usage in the removal andreplacement of needles, the double-thickness wall across the bottom ofthe envelope being a definite safei guard.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which- Fig.l is a perspective View of a needle packet made 1n accordance with myinvention and shown closed;

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the cover opened exposing the needlecontaining envelope, the ap of which is easily unfolded to afford accessto the needles in the envelope;

Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective of the packet disassembled;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of an envelope similar to that of Fig. 3but of modified or alternative construction;

Figs. 5 and 6 are side views of the packet, Fig, 5 showing the envelopearranged as in Figs. l and 2, and Fig. 6 showing the envelope turnedaround front to back so that its ap folds in the opposite direction fromthe cover iiap, and

Fig. 7 shows three fragmentary sectional details on an enlarged scaletaken on the line 7-7 of Fig; 3, showing at the left how the front andback walls of the envelope lie normally in snug contact by reason of theway these walls are joined together at their marginal edge portions byheat sealing, and showing in the middle section and the section at theright how these walls tightly engage a needle entered pointed enddownward, and how the pointed end portion is guided by the tightengagement of the walls toward engagement of the pointed end in thedouble-thickness wall at the lower end portion of the envelope.

Similar reference numerals are applied to corresponding parts throughoutthe views.

Referring rst to Figs. 1 to 3, the packet indicated generally by thenumeral 7 in Figs. l and 2, comprises a light flexible cardboard folderor cover 8 which has one end folded over, as indicated at 9, at oneend'of the back portion 10 and arranged to be fastened by means of astaple 11 in the manner of a match safe cover, so that the front coverflap 12 which is foldable into substantial parallelism with the back 1i)may have its free end portion tucked in under the stapled folded end 9to hold the ap closed and yet permit it to be easily opened. An envelope13 of a size large enough to accommodate sewing machine needles disposedlengthwise in the envelope, as shown in Fig. 2, is secured in place bythe same staple 11 that clinches the folded end 9 of the cover, theclosed lower end of the envelope being entered in the fold of the coverand having the two legs of the staple 11 passed through it. The needlesare entered in the envelope with their pointed ends down, as indicatedat 14 in Fig. 2, and I have found `that there is ample friction betweenthe front and back walls of the envelope at the lower end partly becauseof the novel construction of the envelope itself and partly because ofthe pressure exerted on that end portion of the envelope by the staplingof the folded end of the cover so that the needles have little or notendency to drop out even when the flap 15 of the envelope is laid open.The friction hold on the needles is particularly good when the envelopeis made of the plastic sheet material known as vinylfilm, because thatmaterial has a velvety nish which reduces likelihood of slippage.Another advantage in using that material is that it is thermoplastic andcan be heat-sealed or bonded so readily, as indicated along the threeedges 16, 17 and 18 in Fig. 3. I prefer to use two pieces for the frontand back walls of the envelope and heat-seal the two pieces togetheralong the three marginal edge portions, as shown, instead of folding asingle longer piece and heat-sealing along only the edge portions 16 and18, because it actually costs less to use two pieces heat-sealedtogether in this manner, and there is moreover an advantage in that theheat-sealed edge portion 17 helps to make the front and back walls ofthe envelope lie in closer contact at the closed end of the envelope,thereby increasing the gripping action on the pointed ends of theneedles. The heat-sealed end portion 17 is of double the thickness ofthe walls of the envelope, as indicated in Figs` 3 and 7, and is,moreover, of ample depth, and is, therefore, Well adapted to function asan abutment and pin cushion for the pointed ends of the needles 14, forprotection of the pointed ends of the needles against damage and also tosafegiard the envelope against damage by puncturing. The close contactof the front and back walls of the envelope with the pointed endportions of the needles, illustrated in Fig. 7, guides the same towardthe double-thickness wall 17, to reduce likelihood of the envelope beingpunctured and insure engagement of the needle points in the wall 17. Ofcourse, when the envelope is fastened by the staple 11 in the folded end9 of the cover, there is even tighter engagement of the front and backwalls of the envelope with the pointed end portions of the needles whenthey reach the vicinity of the double-thickness wall 4 properties, thesame being water-repellent and not absorbent to either water or oil, sothat sewing machine needles can be shipped safely in such envelopes andkept therein indefinitely without rusting. Ihe packing of say fourneedles in each packet with the cover imprinted, properly identifyingthe needles, so that the dealer, as

well as the user, will always know what type and size needles arecontained in a given packet, enables the user to select a given needlefor use and replace it in the proper packet, and sewing machinemanufacturers are thereby enabled to make the needles available in ahandy form not only at their dealers but also in various stores wheresuch items have heretofore not been customarily available. The packetcan moreover be easily filled by hand or by machine with whatever numberof needles of a given type and size are to be packed in each packet. Itis seen, therefore, that all of the objections mentioned above goingwith the use of the` old style paper wrappers are avoided with thepresent packet, and, at the same time, the new packet enablesinauguratingv an entirely new `and better system of merchandising sewingmachine needles.

In operation, the ap 15 ofthe` envelope 13 is easily unfolded when thecover flap 12 is opened. One can, therefore, easily remove and replaceneedles and thereafter the flap 15 on the envelope does not have to befolded down again because it tends to close of itself more or less andis held closed securely when the cover tiap 12 is folded over it and theedge portion of the liap is tucked in under the stapled end 9, as shownin Figs. l and 5. I may, however, vturn the envelope 13 around, front toback, as shown in the packet 7' in Fig. 6, so that the ap 15 foldsinwardly toward the back 1l) in the opposite direction from the cover ap12. With that arrangement one has to tuck the flap `15 in behind theenvelope before the cover flap A12 can be folded over the envelope andits end portion tucked in under the stapled end 9, and, consequently,the envelope 13 is, therefore, more tightly closed. It will beunderstood that the cover 8 has suitably imprinted thereon the type andsize of the needles in the envelope 13, as well as the make or makes andkinds of sewing machines on which the same are adapted to be used. Thereis, therefore, no guessworkabout it and the consumer, as Well as thedealer, is better satisfied. -While the main object of my invention hasbeen the better and more attractive packaging of sewing machine needles,and the packet herein described is besty suited for such use, it isevident that other small articles adapted for packaging in a similar waymight be put in this same packet or one altered to meet the newrequirements ln the heat-sealing along the edges 16, 17 andl 18 I may,as shown on the envelope 13 in Fig. 4, heat-seal part way in from bothsides of the Iopen end of the envelope, as indicated at 19 and 20, toreduce the likelihood, little as that may be, of the needles slippingout of the envelope past the ends 'of the ap 15'. The flap- 15 is shownas having square corners, as distinguished from the nearly semi-circularform of the flap 15 shown in Figs. l to 3. However, there isapiossibi-lity, particularly if the heat-sealing indicated at 19 and 20is made long enough in the direction of closing the open end of theenvelope, that the flap 15 may be dispensed with entirely, inasmuch asthe closing of all but a narrow middle portion of the open end willeliminate any likelihood of needles slipping out once the cover ap. 1,2is closed.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding ofthe objects and advantages of my invention. The appended claims havebeen drawn, to cover all legitimate modifications and adaptations.

I claim:

l. In combination, a plurality of sewing needles 'having blunt buttportions and sharply pointed ends, and a needle packet comprisingy acover madeof relatively cardboard providing a back portion withV afolded end portion dening a transverse narrow channel, and a front flapportion foldable and unfoldable relative to the other end of the backportion and adapted to have it-s free end portion retained behind saidfolded end portion, and an elongated needle containing envelope made ofa relatively pliable waterproof material closed at one end and open atthe other, the closed end being disposed in the aforesaid channel in thecover and fastened in place therein in more or less compressed conditionby a staple passed through the folded end portion of the cover and theclosed end portion of the envelope therein, the open end portion of saidenvelope having a needle retaining flap foldable and unfoldable withrespect thereto, the sewing needles being disposed lengthwise in saidenvelope with their sharply pointed ends held frictionally between theotherwise tightly abutting front and back walls of the envelope in theaforesaid channel of the cover while their blunt butt ends are disposedtoward the open end of the envelope.

2. The combination set forth in claim l, wherein said envelope comprisesa pair of superposed sheets of ex-ible thermoplastic material joinedtogether under Iheat and pressure by edge portions of appreciable widthabutting face to face, such joining together resulting in said edgeportions being integrally united to form a marginal edge portion ofdouble thickness along the bottom end and along opposite sides therebyforming an open mouthed envelope, the front and back of which by reasonof Athe method of uniting the edge portions tend to lie in close contactwith one another and particularly at the closed bottom end where thedouble-thickness edge portion serves as a pin cushion into which thepointed end portions of the needles are adapted to be stuck withoutdamage lto tthe needles or envelope, the needles being placed in theenvelope through the open mouth end, pointed end first.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS121,860 Evans Dec. 12, 1871 1,970,394 Salinger Aug. 14, 1934 2,547,779Renyck Apr. 3, 1951

